Decoy

During the Second World War, the British Air Ministry commissioned film technicians at Sound City studios in Shepperton to design fake cities, airfields, docks and oil refineries. The objective of this secret simulation was to divert enemy bombs away from the real targets. The decoys were constructed using fires and electric lights a few miles away from the true locations. Today, only control bunkers remain at many of the sites as crumbling reminders of this forgotten endeavour. They sheltered the crew and housed generators for the lights. This simulation diverted 5% of enemy bombs away from their intended destinations.

I make my images at former decoy locations and base my research on a range of archive sources. I am intrigued by this curious meeting of theatre and the military. I introduce theatrical lighting to animate the landscape and to evoke visual deception in war.